Nationals blow away Mets  —  Nelson Figueroa knows about bush league baseball.  After all, he's toured the world trying to resurrect his major league career.  —  But not until Monday night did Figueroa witness a truly amateurish display, the Mets pitcher suggested.

Yankees pull Igawa out of rotation  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Kei Igawa's one start this season was bad enough for the Yankees to pull him from the rotation.  —  Igawa gave up six earned runs and 11 hits in three innings plus four hitters when he faced the Tigers on Friday.

Gossage: There's no room for Joba's antics in MLB  —  Hall of Famer Goose Gossage has some issues with New York Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain's expressive celebrations on the pitcher's mound.  —  “There's no place for it in the game,” Gossage told reporters Monday during a tour of the Hall of Fame, according to MLB.com.

Casey in, Tavarez out for Red Sox  —  First baseman activated off DL; veteran pitcher cut loose  —  MINNEAPOLIS — The Red Sox activated first baseman Sean Casey on Monday and cleared space on the 25-man roster by designating veteran right-hander Julian Tavarez for assignment.

Dodgers place shortstop Furcal on DL  —  Club expected to purchase Maza's contract from Triple-A  —  MILWAUKEE — Shortstop Rafael Furcal had to be placed on the 15-day disabled list on Monday when his lower back injury turned out to be worse than the club had believed.

Cabrera turns unassisted triple play  —  Second baseman snags liner, jumps on second and tags runner  —  CLEVELAND — Asdrubal Cabrera has a way of making the amazing defensive play look routine.  —  But this was a bit ridiculous.  —  Shortly after he turned just the 14th unassisted triple play …

Is Clayton Kershaw worth the hype?  —  “Clayton Kershaw's curveball scares children” “Clayton Kershaw's curveball is public enemy number one”  —  Just a couple of the high heaps of praise that surround Dodgers pitching prospect Clayton Kershaw, known by many to be the best pitching prospect in all of baseball.

A few injury updates  —  Whenever the Yankees play the Rays in St. Petersburg, the injured players on the 40-man roster who are assigned to the team complex in Tampa usually come by.  —  So here are some updates on those guys:  —  Jeff Karstens (groin strain): He threw three innings …

On the 100 pitch limit  —  Who decided that starting pitchers were only allowed to throw 100 pitches?  OK, so we can use the eyeball test to see that pitchers usually aren't usually as sharp in the seventh inning as they were in the first.  And there surely must be a point where it would behoove …

INJURED DUQUE MAKING PROGRESS  —  By MIKE PUMA in New York and MARK HALE in Port St. Lucie, Fla.  —  Orlando Hernandez, still rehabbing from a strained tendon in his right foot, threw without a boot for a second straight day in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and indicated he could be throwing off the mound within a week.

Suddenly there are more experts than strikeouts in Ryan Howard's slump  —  They have aligned themselves into three distinct groups: The “Tell Him to Try This” hitting coaches.  The “Get Rid of the Bum” bashers.  The “Just Leave Him Alone - He'll Be Fine” partisans.

Homer in 10th gives Texas Rangers 13-12 win  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  ARLINGTON - This one should have never been in doubt.  Not when the Rangers fell behind Erik Bedard by five runs in the first inning.  And not when they blew a four-run, ninth-inning lead.

Close-knit rotation turning page on past  —  Royals' starting five weaving a new tale of success, hard work  —  KANSAS CITY — The thing about Royals pitcher Brian Bannister is that he understands a storyline.  He could be a managing editor.  —  The premise was that Bannister, Gil Meche …